Rotary grinding mill



June 25, 1929. w. H. FLUKER 1.718.552

ROTARY GRINDING MILL Original Filed July 15, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Wfffiz/ief BY a WI/I/I ATTORNE;

June 25, 1929. w. H. FL-UKER ROTARY GRINDING MILL Original Filed July 15. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR /1. /%]70%/' ATTORNEY Patented June 25, 1929.

UNITED STA WILLIAM H. FLUKER, OF THOMSON, GEORGIA.

ROTARY GRINDING MILL.

Application filed July 15, 1927, Serial No. 206,024. Renewed September 7, 1928.

This invention relates to grinding mills and more particularly to a rotary grinding mill.

It has been proposed to employ grinding mills which include a circular cylinder and partially filled with a predetermined number of balls or rods which, when the shell is rotated. the rods or balls will be agitated in association wit-h the materials for grinding the same. However, in the circular mills there is always a, deadcenter in which the balls are lodged which remains substantially in an idle position so that the materials at these points will not be ground. Furthermore, considerable power is required to operate a mill of this type with less efiicient results.

It has also been proposed to provide a mill having a cylindrical shell in which a plurality of chambers are disposed longitudinally with the shell and which are elliptical in cross section. In this type of mill, the chambers are so arranged that they will travel through an arc of a circle around a common center so that only a portion of the rods or balls wh ch are out of contact with.

the walls of the elliptical chamber will be slowly moved until a predetermined point in the circle of travel of the shell is-reached, when the balls or ro'ls will reverse the position and fall from the opposite end of the ellipse. Insuch a construction dead pockets will be had periodically during each cycle of operation of the mill.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mill having a shell which is elliptical in cross section and which shell revolves on the axis so that all the rods and balls placed therein will be in continuous movement at all times during the cycle of operation of the elliptical shell.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a grinding mill which is elliptical in cross section and revolving around the common axis of the ellipse so that balls and rods placed therein will not only be maintained in movement at the upper portion thereof, but there will be a continuous movementpf all the rods in a definite line at all times. the rods or balls being carried upwardly from the lowest point to the uppe most point continuously, and by gravity fa l tplwards the opposite wall of the elliptical s ell.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description. in view of the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification; nevertheless it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and modifications which shall define no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claim. In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal view in elevation of a rotary mill constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the mill,

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the mill when said mill has its major axis in a vertical plane,

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section of the mill with the major axis in a horizontal plane,

F'gure 5 is a transverse vertical section of the mill with the major axis inclined at an angle to the vertical.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 1O designates a pair of standards having bearings 11 at their upper ends to support hollow trunnions 12 which are rigidly secured to the opposite end wall 13 or 1-51 of a shell 15.

The shell, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, is elliptical in cross section and has an inner'liner 16 conforming to the shell 15, and end liners 17 conforming to the end walls 13 and 14 of the mill. The end walls of the shell 15 are provided respectively with cooperating flanges 18 and 19 which are secured together in any approved manner.

The mill is driven by means of a gear .20 secured to the trunnions 12 or to the end wall 13, which meshes with a gear 21 secured to a shaft 22 mounted in bearings in one of the standards 10. The shaft "22 is driven by means of a pulley or gear 23 which in turn is rotated from any suitable source of power. The trunnion 12 which is adjacent the gear 20 is provided with a flange 24 to which is bolted, as shown at 25, a feeding device 26. The feeding device has a projection 27 which is adaptedv to be periodically moved through the ore or materials to be fed to the mill whereby said materials are scooped up by the member 26 and fed through the hollow trun nions to the interior of the mill.

The mill is filled with a plurality of balls or grinding rods 30 to a predetermined depth,

or such a number will be placed therein which rows. These rods will move downwardly towards the left not only at the outer surface, but there will be a general slide of all of the rods in that direction.

As shown in Fig. 4, the major axis of, the elliptical mill is in the horizontal plane and as the mill moves to the vertical position the rods towards the right will slide towards the left and such sliding movement of the rods will be continuous in that direction since not only a portion of the rods are being elevated, but there is a general elevation'of the rods on the right hand side, and this continuous slide of the rods or general trend of movement is indicated in Fi 5, showing the angular movement'of the p ane of the major axis toward the vertical.

It will be appreciated that the lowermost rods which are in contact with the inner lining of the shell tend to resist to some extent the sliding movement of the rods in the lower portion of the drum so that the elliptical drum in its rotary movement will also tend to build up somewhat of a pyramid shape of the rods pyramid during rotation and which is at the right hand side of the mill, as shown in- Figs. 3 to 5. The somewhat flattened surface of the mill, due to its elliptical shape tends at all times to provide for this disposition of the the cylindrical shell and insert a liner having a cross sectional area of elliptical formation with the axis of the elliptical liner disposed along the axis of the trunnions 12.

I claim:

A grinding mill having a rotary cylinder uniformly elliptical in crosssection throughout the length thereof and provided with trunnions disposed axially of said cylinder the axis of said cylinder being in a horizontal plane, loose gravitationally controlled grinding elements located within the cylinder and normally disposed below a horizontal plane passing through the axis of said cylinder, and means for rotatin the shell.

W' LLIAM H. FLUKER.

35 or to maintain the rods in approximately a 

